Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Quotation of the Day

'Now Is the Time to Shout Louder' About Indies

"More needs to be done to curb their [Amazon's] behavior. But there has been a shift I think in public opinion and in the media slowly... and there's more awareness of the negative influence they have on the high street and how much their behavior affects our businesses in the day to day.

"Now we are trying to focus more on the positive impact of bookshops on the economy, on communities and British high street--still hold Amazon to account and anyone else that acts in a potentially anti-competitive way but now is the time to shout louder than ever about the contribution bookshops make to society.... we have to make sure every single member of the community can access our shops and are welcome there."

'Now Is the Time to Shout Louder' About Indies

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News

Neverending Bookshop Moving to Edmonds, Wash.

The Neverending Bookshop is moving from its home of three years in Bothell, Wash., to a new location in Edmonds, Wash., some seven miles away. The store closed in Bothell on August 24 and owner Annie Carl is on track to open in Edmonds next week.

Carl reported that the new space is roughly twice the size of the old, giving her plenty of room to grow. She'll have extra storage space, enough room for a dedicated events space, and she plans to turn what used to be a small office into a kids' room. And while the new space is no longer in a downtown area, Carl said it has much more visibility than the previous location and still gets foot traffic.

The new Neverending Bookshop in progress.

Despite all of the advantages that the new space will bring, Carl said that the transition has been very difficult. She learned that she would need to move only in May, after her landlady decided not to renew her lease. That left Carl with three months to find a new home for the bookstore and no money saved up for the move. Carl added that the landlady had "felt the bookshop wasn't thriving, despite the numbers I gave her that showed that it was."

To help raise money for the move, Carl started a GoFundMe campaign, which has brought in $3,100, and Carl said her "husband, parents, bookseller community, and friends have been incredibly supportive both emotionally and monetarily." To help with the physical move, there were "loads of friends and family" who pitched in to pack up boxes of boxes and others offering to help unpack books this weekend.

According to Carl, some of her customers are pretty disappointed, especially those who lived within walking distance. But other customers are "thrilled," since she's now moving closer to where they live. Many in her new community, meanwhile, have "expressed excitement" at the move.

"I'm very encouraged by that," said Carl. She's planning to have a reopening celebration the first week of October.

Neverending Bookshop Moving to Edmonds, Wash.

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Adam Miller New President and CEO of Joseph-Beth

Adam Miller has been named president and CEO of Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has three superstores--in Lexington, Ky., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Crestview Hills, Ky.--and three hospital shops, at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, the Jewish Hospital and the Christ Hospital, both in Cincinnati.

Last week, Mark Wilson was let go as president and CEO of Joseph-Beth Booksellers after seven years in the position.

Miller has worked in "retail management" at American Eagle Outfitters, Victoria's Secret and Lane Bryant, according to the Herald-Leader. Among other plans, he told the paper that he aims to develop a strong e-commerce strategy. Social marketing platforms will be honed, he said, and stores will gather "profile information that allows us to communicate with customers in a more personal way." In addition, he plans to use "other in-store technologies and perks to improve the in-person book-buying experience."

Robert Langley, owner and chairman of Joseph-Beth Booksellers, said in a release, "During this time of retail transformation, there is no better person to lead Joseph-Beth Booksellers than Adam Miller. Adam has more than 30 years of retail leadership experience and has served as an industry consultant to many of today's advancing retail brands. He is a proven strategic business leader with deep understanding and passion for customer experience and leading winning teams by example. We are committed to the success of Joseph-Beth Booksellers and believe Adam is exactly what Joseph-Beth needs to enter its next chapter in creating personalized customer experience and brand growth."

Miller commented: "The opportunity ahead for Joseph-Beth is significant. To seize it, we will focus clearly on our customers and communities, our products, move fast to innovate and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to innovate and personalize our brand experience, while positioning our vision and strategy to meet and exceed the changing landscape of the retail industry."

Adam Miller New President and CEO of Joseph-Beth

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Aeon Bookstore Opens in NYC

Aeon Bookstore has opened at 151 East Broadway in New York City's Lower East Side, specializing in literature, art, philosophy, occult and music. The shop, which features both used and new titles, hosted its grand opening last Friday.

"There's also going to be a space in back for events (it's not quite ready yet)," the Lo-Down reported, adding that the new business is owned by Karl Bauer, Josiah Wolfson and Bernard George Friedman.

Aeon Bookstore Opens in NYC

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Übleis Rejoins Holtzbrinck to Publish German Authors in English

Hans-Peter Übleis

Hans-Peter Übleis, who was publisher of Droemer Knaur for nearly 20 years, is rejoining Holtzbrinck. In the newly created position, he will focus on getting German authors published by Droemer Knaur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt and S. Fischer published in English-language markets in translation.

Joerg Pfuhl, CEO of Holtzbrinck Germany, said, "We are convinced of the quality of our German authors and believe that intensifying our efforts in foreign markets can significantly increase their opportunities abroad, particularly in the U.S., the U.K. and worldwide in English translations. Hans-Peter Übleis has published over 100 German #1 bestsellers throughout his career. With his long standing industry experience and his successful career as a publisher, he is uniquely positioned to support our authors and publishers in these efforts."

Übleis Rejoins Holtzbrinck to Publish German Authors in English

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Obituary Note: Marie Severin

Marie Severin, "a multifaceted comic book artist whose confident hand drew most of the greatest heroes in the Marvel Comics pantheon at a time when women were rare in that field," died August 29, the New York Times reported. She was 89. Severin's career in the industry began in 1949 as a colorist for EC Comics and she "was one of a handful of female artists who gained prominence during comics' so-called Silver Age, from the mid-1950s until the early '70s."

Her work at Marvel "gathered steam in the mid-1960s, after Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko introduced superheroes like the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. She drew covers for Marvel titles like Daredevil, Iron Man, Captain America and often amended, retouched or updated other artists' work," the Times wrote. Severin also designed the first Spider-Woman.

Describing her as a "utility infielder" who contributed to Marvel in innumerable ways, often with little recognition from the public, comic book writer and scholar Mark Evanier said, "A lot of the great Marvel covers of the '60s and '70s were her design, and nobody knew it. This business is not known for giving credit."

She was also a skilled humorist, who caricatured her Marvel co-workers in drawings that were not intended for publication. "You really did not work at Marvel until Marie drew an insulting caricature of you and pinned it up," Evanier said. "People treasure them."

"She could do humor, she could do horror, she could do adventure, she could do cartoons," Stan Lee once said. "She could do almost anything you asked her to do and she did it all beautifully, like the true pro she was."

Obituary Note: Marie Severin

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Notes

Image of the Day: Anonymous Atticus Appears

Anonymous poet Atticus (Instagram's @AtticusPoetry) drew a huge crowd for his signing at Barnes & Noble in the Grove in Los Angeles, the first stop on his U.S. tour for The Dark Between the Stars (Simon & Schuster).

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Image of the Day: Anonymous Atticus Appears

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Foggy Pine Books 'Offers a Haven for Book Lovers'

Foggy Pine Books, Boone, N.C., "offers more than books to its patrons," the Appalachian noted in a profile of this "haven for book lovers" that carries new and used books and was established in 2016 after Mary Ruthless bought Black Bear Books from Karen Walker.

"A community without a bookstore is missing something valuable," Ruthless said. "We think it's important to work with the community and do what you can to engage with other businesses."

Foggy Pine is "a general bookstore that focuses on building a collection of books written by southern and local authors," the Appalachian wrote, adding that it "showcases Southern bestsellers and Okra Picks instead of the New York Times Best Sellers. It also includes a large selection of local history books. "

Long term plans for Foggy Pine include a literary festival, which will focus on local and southern authors. "We wanted something not just for Watauga County, but something that draws bigger name authors," Ruthless said.

Foggy Pine Books 'Offers a Haven for Book Lovers'

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Personnel Changes at Milkweed Editions; S&S

At Milkweed Editions:

Joanna R. Demkiewicz, who had been publicist since 2015, has been promoted to marketing director.

Jordan Bascom, who previously worked as a marketing assistant, is now the publicist.

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At Simon & Schuster:

Allison Stegeland has been promoted to the newly created position of sales associate in the international sales channel and will oversee distribution of titles publishing in the U.S. to the U.K., Canada, India and Australia. She was formerly sales coordinator with the e-audio sales team and earlier worked in the contracts department at Penguin Random House.

Henna Cho has been promoted to sales coordinator in the e-audio sales group. She was formerly sales assistant for the Readerlink, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor sales teams.

Personnel Changes at Milkweed Editions; S&S

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Baker & Taylor Publisher Services Adds Seven Clients

Baker & Taylor Publisher Services has added the following clients:

DISTANZ, an international fine art publisher that produces artists' monographs and books on contemporary art and photography as well as exhibition catalogues with museums and institutions in Germany and abroad. Other fields include 20th- and 21st-century architecture, design, fashion, and life in Berlin. (U.S. and Canada.)

Jacaranda Books Arts Music, which publishes adult fiction and non-fiction crossing linguistic, racial, gender, and cultural boundaries, focusing on works related to Africa, the Caribbean, and the experiences of those people in the Diaspora. (U.S., Canada, and international, excluding Spain and Portugal.)

Amsterdam University Press, which specializes in the humanities and social sciences, with lists in Asian studies, film, media and communication, history, language and linguistics, and social and political sciences. AUP published more than 100 academic titles in 2017, consisting of both monographs and edited collections. (U.S. and Canada.)

KWiL Publishing, Milwaukee, Wis., a start-up children's publisher that specializes in read-it-again-worthy picture books and early chapter books and is committed to well-researched and engaging STEM content and diversity in children's literature. (U.S. and Canada.)

Arcler Education, a Canadian publisher of academic, professional, research works, and textbooks dedicated to developing collections of titles in subject areas, including agriculture and life sciences, animal and veterinary science, engineering, computer science, science, mathematics, business and management, law, library science, education and psychology, hotel and tourism, and the humanities. Arcler has three imprints: Arcler Press, Society Publishing, and Delve Publishing. (Effective October 1; U.S., Canada and international.)

New Hope Publishers, Birmingham, Ala., a division of Iron Stream Media, and a Christian publisher that was named publisher of the year in 2009 and 2015 by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA). (Worldwide.)

Malcolm Down Publishing, U.K.,which, with its Sarah Grace Publishing children's imprint, publishes in a variety of genres, mainly, but not exclusively, from authors with a Christian background. (U.S. and Canada.)

Daily Show: José Andrés, author of We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time (Anthony Bourdain/Ecco, $27.99, 9780062864482).

Media Heat: Claire Tomalin on Fresh Air

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TV: His Dark Materials

The BBC has doubled the order for His Dark Materials, an adaptation of Philip Pullman's trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), ahead of its debut. Deadline reported that the Bad Wolf and New Line production "has already been handed a second, eight-part season. Filming kicked off earlier this month in Cardiff at Wolf Studios Wales for season one of the drama, which is thought to be one of the most expensive British scripted series to date."

Written by Jack Thorne, and His Dark Materials stars James McAvoy, Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Clarke Peters, Ariyon Bakare, Georgina Campbell, Anne-Marie Duff, Ian Gelder and Will Keen. Tom Hooper will be lead director and helm the first two episodes, with Dawn Shadforth directing an episode and Otto Bathurst directing two.

Endeavor Content co-reps North American rights with BBC Studios Distribution.

TV: His Dark Materials

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Books & Authors

Awards: Brooklyn Public Library; German Book Prize

The Brooklyn Public Library has announced shortlists for its 2018 Literary Prize in fiction/poetry and nonfiction:

Nonfiction:The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú (Penguin Random House)Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay (HarperCollins)A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis (Beacon Press)

The winner will be announced on October 8 at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Awards: Brooklyn Public Library; German Book Prize

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Reading with... Alex Mutter

Alex Mutter has been reporting on the indie bookstore world for Shelf Awareness since 2013. His first real job was at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., where he had to take remedial gift-wrapping. He lives in Los Angeles, Calif.

On your nightstand now:

At the moment I'm nearing the end of The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. I've got Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward and 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann on deck. For no real reason, I've been doing a thing lately where I alternate reading fiction and nonfiction.

Favorite book when you were a child:

I loved the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. It had everything I wanted as a kid. Medieval fantasy? Yes please. Talking animals? Into it. Sword fights?? I am on board!

Based on the above, it will come as no surprise to learn that I was also a big fan of the Animorphs books by K.A. Applegate.

Your top five authors:

This is a really tough question. But I have to go with Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, John le Carré, Richard Flanagan and Ursula K. Le Guin, who wrote science fiction and fantasy like no one else could.

Book you've faked reading:

Somehow I went through high school without ever being assigned The Great Gatsby, which is one of a handful of books that people just sort of assume you've read, no matter the circumstances. I remember nodding along during plenty of conversations about the book in college, pretending to know what everyone else was talking about. (Rest assured that I did eventually read it. Turns out it's pretty good.)

Book(s) you're an evangelist for:

Euphoria by Lily King and Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. In Euphoria, watching the three main characters collide is like watching a car crash--you can't look away. Gould's Book of Fish, meanwhile, is one of the most funny, brutal, beautiful and disgusting novels I've ever read.

Book you've bought for the cover:

I can't say that I've ever bought a book solely for the cover, although I have been tempted to buy new editions of books I already own, usually when I'm stuck with one that has a movie tie-in cover (I am the not-proud owner of a horrific movie tie-in version of The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper). There have been plenty of instances, however, when a great cover made me notice a book that would otherwise have probably passed me by. Such was the case with Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue and Command and Control by Eric Schlosser, to name two.

And on occasion I have bought books simply for the title--How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives by Zachary Auburn is probably the best example.

Book you hid from your parents:

I honestly can't think of a book I ever felt compelled to hide. Certain manga volumes or video games, though....

Book that changed your life:

At risk of sounding like that guy, I really do have to say Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

Favorite line from a book:

It's kind of impossible to choose a single, all-time favorite, but this bit from Carl Sagan's Cosmos has always stuck with me: "We humans, as a species, are interested in communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Would not a good beginning be improved communication with terrestrial intelligence, with other human beings of different cultures and languages, with the great apes, with the dolphins, but particularly with those intelligent masters of the deep, the great whales?"

Five books you'll never part with:

Paul Beatty's The Sellout; American Gods by Neil Gaiman; my old, beat-up copies of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon; and a used, hardcover copy of Three Hainish Novels (Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusion) by Ursula K. Le Guin that has the sort of too-literal cover art that they just don't make for science fiction novels anymore.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

I'd love to read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré without already knowing the mole's identity. I made the rookie mistake of seeing the movie before I read the book.

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Book Review

YA Review: Hey, Kiddo

In Hey, Kiddo, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author/illustrator of picture books and graphic novels for children, puts his talents to use on a more sophisticated project: delving into his own chaotic past. In his first work for young adults, Krosoczka describes how his life was shaped by his mother's addiction and his family's love.

Even though his mother, Leslie, "started using when she was just thirteen years old" and wasn't sure who his father was until Jarrett was born, the boy "came home in an oversized stocking on Christmas day" to a family that cared deeply for him. When Leslie's "terrible decisions" became too dangerous for three-year-old Jarrett, his grandfather Joe insisted on becoming the boy's legal guardian. Joe and Jarrett's grandmother, Shirley, had already raised five kids and were just about to turn into "empty-nesters" when they took in the toddler.

Jarrett's grandfather, usually depicted puffing a cigarette, frequently expressed love for his grandson, and provided for him in the best way he could. Joe saw to it that, when Jarrett's school repeatedly slashed its art program, the boy got art lessons at the Worcester Art Museum, since "[a]rt was the only thing that [he] had any sort of interest in." Shirley--also a heavy smoker and a drinker--was abrasive, though she clearly loved the boy. Still, Jarrett "always felt the void that Leslie's absence created."

When she did come around, there were good times. A birthday party at a McDonald's, months away from his actual birthday, was "a lot of fun" and "the only party that [he] ever had with friends throughout [his] entire childhood." Likewise, rare presents of a stuffed polar bear and, years later, the matching scarves Leslie knit for Jarrett and his pet gerbil, were treasured. But an even bigger gift might have been the letters and homemade cards they exchanged, where he'd "request a cartoon from her and then she'd request one back from [him]." The letters show that Leslie told Jarrett she loved him--"a lot." But her presence in his life was sporadic and "just as quickly as she'd [reappear], she was gone again."

Eventually, Jarrett found himself in art. This memoir serves as a wonderful expression of the richness of his gift, as well as a tribute to his "two incredible parents" who "just happened to be a generation removed." Rendered in black, white and a range of grays, with touches of color coming from the addition of rusty orange tones, the inked art is moody and expressive. The reproductions of actual letters and drawings from Jarrett's childhood lend authenticity and poignancy to the book. By the time he graduated from high school, Jarrett gained a measure of maturity that allowed him to come to terms with the family that, though far from "idyllic," is uniquely his. Perhaps, as Leslie told Jarrett while he was working on this book, their story "could help somebody who might be walking a similar path to the one [they] had walked." Here's hoping! --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI

Shelf Talker: Jarrett Krosoczka's graphic novel is a reflection on his unconventional upbringing, which included being raised by grandparents due to his mom's devastating addiction.